Cablevision, P.C. Richard & Son Partner

12/03/2007 02:00:00 AM Eastern

By: Colleen Bohen

Cablevision Systems has partnered with New-York-metropolitan-area CE and appliance retailer P.C. Richard & Son to allow customers to sign up for all three of its Optimum products — iO TV digital cable, Optimum Online high-speed Internet and Optimum Voice phone service — at 35 P.C. Richard & Son locations in the cable company's service area.

Also as part of the deal, Cablevision will now provide its digital cable service to more than 30 P.C. Richard & Son locations so that customers can experience its high-definition program while they shop for an HDTV.

HDTV has grown to play an increasingly important role at P.C. Richard & Son in the past few years. A release noted that 90 percent of all TVs sold by the retailer this year — and all televisions larger than 26 inches sold — are capable of receiving high-definition programming. The release indicated that two years ago only about 50 percent of the dealer's TV sales were high-definition models.

"We are excited about our new partnership with Cablevision," said Gregg Richard, president of P.C. Richard & Son, in a release, "especially since the Optimum family of services is a direct extension of the products we sell, The computer buyer can now easily enjoy the speed of Optimum Online, and the TV buyer purchasing their first high-definition TV can seamlessly subscribe to iO TV to receive a crystal-clear HD signal. At P.C. Richard & Son, we strive to provide superior service — before, during and after the sale. With the addition of these Optimum products to more than 30 of our retail showrooms, our customers can now conveniently add or upgrade their Cablevision service without leaving our store."

Cablevision said its iO TV service provides customers access to 42 high-definition programming services, nearly double its HD offerings in 2006, including local New York sports in HD at no additional cost.

All together, iO digital cable service is said to provide customers access to more than 260 channels including 50 premium movie channels, 47 channels of commercial-free digital music, more than 1,800 titles available on demand at all times, an interactive programming guide, the aforementioned 42 high-definition programming services and interactive television applications like News 12 Interactive.